In the winding of wire or any other strand-like or filamentary material onto a rotating spool it is well known to guide the strand onto the spool with a reciprocating wire traverse guide which moves with strokes of increasing length as wire builds up on the spool. It is also known to wind strand onto a spool using an apparatus which empolys a strand guide flyer mounted for rotary movement around a spool.
Each of these types of machines have been designed fo winding wire onto spools which tapered flanges. Thus, they must include means for increasingly widening the limits of traversing movements, in response to build-up of wire on the spools, since successive layers become wider with such tapered flanges.
In the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 2,254,221, the distance of traverse movement is controlled with a switch actuatig lever which, upon physical engagement with the spool end flanges, effects a reversal of the traverse device.
The traverse reversing mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,650 is controlled by a follower roller arranged to engage wire wound on the spool to effect an increase in the distance of traverse movement in response to build-up of wire on the spool.
In the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,834, the reversal points of the traverse guide are controlled by a timer which is effective to incrementally increase the movement limits of the traverse guide after a fixed period of time corresponding to a select number of traverse movements.
A counter is employed in the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,249 for counting the revolutions of the spool and for reversing the direction of movement of the wire traverse guide when the count reaches a predetermined number which is incrementally increased a given amount each time the movement of the traverse guide undergoes a givennumber of reversals.
Prior art wire winding machines of the type described above are generally of a highly complex nature, requireing substantial set-up times for adjusting and changing stops, limit switches, pinions, or the like for each different size of wire or for winding the same size wire on different sized of spool. Although the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,249 is of less complexity, it suffers from the disadvantage that it does not automatically compensate for variations in the size of the wire or other parameters affecting fill of the wire on the spool, such as wire tension, turns per inch, or different wire lubricities, all of which can affect the apparent density of the wire on a spool.
In the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,978, the motion of the strand guide is reversed when the number of tunes counted, from the flange apex of an out-turned conical flange (frustrum), reaches a value substantially equal to the quotient of a sensed length value divided by a predetermined reference value, which represents the length of a single turn of strand wound on the bare spool barrel. This apparatus suffers from the disadvantage that it is limited to spools having cylindrical barrels. In the manufacture of wire and other strand products, however, it is often advantageous to wind wire and the like onto spols having tapered barrels so that slackened wire does not fall and become entangled.
A need exists for a winding machine which winds wire or other filamentary or strand-like material onto a spool having a tapered barrel with flanges of any type including flat or tapered. This winding machine should not be of a complex nature requiring substantial set-up times for adjusting and changing stops, limit switches, pinions or the like for each different size of strand-like material or wire or for winding such material on different sizes of spools. It must automatically compensate for variations in the size of the strand or other parameters affecting fill of the strand on the spool such as strand tension, turns per inch, or different strand lubricities.
The winding machine should be capable of taking into account minor differences between spools of the same type due to manufacturing tolerances and other discrepancies which might tend to cause improper fill of the spool near the end flanges. This problem has been recognized in prior art winding machines and addressed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,038,674; 3,677,483; 3,876,167; 3,967,787; and 4,004,744.